Bottle-washing machine.



PATENTED MAY 28. 1907.

,J. R; AMAGKER. BOTTLE WASHING MACHINE.

APPLIOATIOH FILED 1'33. 8. 1904.

a sums-sum 1.

PATENTED MAY 28, 1907.

J. 'R. AMAGKBR. BOTTLE' WASHING MACHINE,

APPLICATION FILED. mp3. 8, 1904.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

- PATENTED MAY 28, 1907. J. R. AMACKER.

BOTTLE WASHING MAGHINB.

APPLICATION FILED IEB. 8, 1904.

5 S EETS-SHEET 3.

No. 855,036. PATBNTED' MAY 28, 1907. J. R. AMAGKER.

BOTTLE WASHING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED m. a, 904. 1

a sums-sun 4.

gainiiliiiliiliiiiiliil ii'? .No. 855,036., 7 PATENTED MAY 28, 1907.

4 J. R. AMAOKER.

BOTTLE WASHING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FI ED FEB. 8, 1904.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 5.

JOHN R. 'AMACKER, OFOAK PARK, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR 'r'o THE'OREAMERYILLINOIS.

PACKAGE COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A'CORPORATI'ON OF Specificationof Letters Patent.

BOTTLE-WASHING MACHINE:

resented May 28, 1907.

Application filed February 8,1904. Serial No. 192,498.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JoHN R. AMACKER, a citizen of the United States,residing at Oak Park, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented a certain new, useful, and

. Improved Bottle-Washing Machine, of which scribe the following is a secification.

My invention re ates to machines for washing bottles, and has particularreference to a machine whereinbottles such as are used for milk andcream may be soaked in lye, then scrubbed, then permitted to drain, andthen thoroughly rinsed.

I conceive that time and labor may be saved in the cleaning of bottles,provided a single machine is devised wherein the operations describedshall take place, beginning with the receipt of the dirty bottles andending with the storage of the clean bottles; and that, by providing forthe properdistribution of the Work in such a machine, fewer operatorswill be required.

The object of my invention is to provide a machinethat shall be asnearly as possible automatic, re uiring, however, the constant attentionanddlabor of one or more operators, with the attendant assurance ofcareful inspection of every bottle that passes through t 1e machine.

Another object of my invention is to rovide a bottle-washin machine thatsha be extremely economica in operation, requirin tles shall be drainedwithout requiring spe-.

cial attention or expenditure of time on the part of the operator; andfurther, to provide a machine at which two washers or o erators may workat the same time, making a ternate use of the rinsing apparatus.

A final object of my invention is to provide a machine of great capacityand which'shall require little effort of the operator in its 0 orationin other words, a machine that sha l, itself, erform so many of thefunctions ded as to render the necessary work of the operators easy andlight.

With these objects in view, my invention consists, generally, in abottle-washing machine comprising a soaking-tank, in combine tion withone or more conveyers operable therein and provided with a plurality ofbottle-holding pockets wherein the bottles are continuously resentedwith their necks u ermost, so t at they may be complete y led with thesoaking fluid, in order that they may emerge therefrom partly filledwith water, the pockets being so constructed that the water, whenescaping therefrom, holds the bottles therein; another element ofmyinvention is a scrubbing device which with the scrubbing tank is soconstructed and arranged that the loss of washing fluid is avoided. Andfurther, my inventlon consists in various constructions and combinationsof parts for safely handling the bottles; for savmg the washing orsoaking fluid, and for economizing the time of the operators; all ashereinafter described and particularly pointed out in the claims. v

My invention will be more readily understood by reference to theaccompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, and-inwhich Figure 1, represents a side elevation of my improvedbottle-washing machine; Fig. 2,

is a vertical section through the center of the.

machine, showing the lower pa'rt of one wheel broken away; Fig. 3, is asection on the line 'y.-y of Fig. 1; Fig. 4, is a section on the line zzof Fig: 1; Fig. 5, is a section on the line m-a: of Fig. 1 Fig. 6, is aplan view of Fig. 5, with the spraying-tank and bottlerack removed; Figl 7,. is a general plan view of the entire machine; and Fig. 8, is anenlarged sectional view of one of my im roved bottle-holding pockets,with a bottle t erein.

As shown in the drawings, 1 is the tank, supported on the I-beams 2 andcontaining the washing fluid in which the bottles are soaked. Asaponifying solution of any kind may be employed; but I prefer to use asolution of water and any of the wellknown washingpowders. Two largewheels, 3, operate in this tank, each being equipped with a large numberof bottle-holding pockets, 6, of such shape as to continuously presentthe necks of the bottles uppermost, regardless of the changing positionof the pockets during the rotation of thewheel'. The wheels may bepositively driven, if desired,

but the use of power for this purpose is unnecessary,'for the reasonthat the weight of thebottles in thepockets at one side of the wheelwill naturally produce the necessary rotatlon. The rotary movement ofthe Wl166l thus occasioned finally presents a into the washing-tank, 1;so that the'liquid remaining in the bottles after brushing is not lost,as each bottle remains in constant com unication with the tank, 1, untilit is completely emptied. As shown, Iprefer to use two of theconveyer-wheels in the tank, and two brushes, with correspondingdrainstands. Between the drain stands 1 arrange the rinsing portion ofthe machine. This comprises means for jetting fresh Water into thebottles and then using the polluted water for rinsing the outsides ofthe bottles.

In operating the machine, one operator stands at the receiving side ofthe conveyer wheels, and, as rapidly as possible, fillsthe downwardlymoving pockets with dirty bottles. Each bottle placed on the wheel tendsto continue the rotation thereof and to furnish suflicient force tosubmerge the bottles previously placed in the pockets. When a sufficientnumber of bottles have been so inserted in the pockets, the conveyerwheel will have revolved sufiieiently to bring the first bottles to thesurface of the liquid on the other s'ide'of the tank, viz:, that nearestthe brushes,.31, at which point the bottles are removed from theconveyer pockets by the operator and held on or against one of thebrushes, which are rapidly rotated, preferably by; belt, from anyconvenient source of power. They may thus be thoroughly scrubbed, insideor out. The operator then places them, mouth downward, in the drainstand, 11; and during the time required to fill this stand with thebottles, one by one, they are allowed to drain off the liquid remainingin or upon them, which falls into the drip-pan, 9, and passes thence tothe washing-tank, 1. When the drain-stand is filled,.it -is moved overthe slides, 10, and shoved into position on the spraying or rinsing-pan,19, where jets of water are forced upward into the interior of the bottles and run therefrom into the tank, 16.

From this tankthe water is pumped into tank 15, and showered over theoutside" of therefore su ported, and turn thereon.

the bottles. The drain-stand is then drawn off the spraying orrinsing-pan, and the bottles removed therefrom to some convenient pointfor drying or sterilizing.

Having thus briefly outlined the construction, use and operation of myimproved bottle-washing machine, I will now proceed to define anddescribe the machine in detail.

The soaking and washing-tank, 1, is of rectangular shape and issupported on the I- beanis, 2. It is composed of plates riveted togetherat the edges, and is stiffened at the center by the panels, 38. At thelower end of one of these panels, 38, is the casting, 42, containing anopening, 45, through which the tank is cleaned out when necessary, andwhich is closed by the cap, 43, operated by the nut, 44. An overflowpipe, 47, is placed in the tank, 1, and determines the maximum level ofthe soaking liquid therein. This pipe is removably jointed at the bottomof the tank, so that it may be drawn out "when it'is desired to drainthe tank, pre aratory to cleaning it. Secured in the top 0 the panels,38, are the sockets, 39, for the ends of the rod, 35. The hubs, 4, ofthe conveyer-wheels, 6, encircle this rod, 35, and the wheels are Acollar or col ars, 37, separates the hubs, 4. The two wheels, 3, areentirely independent of each other and revolve freely about the rod, 35,when impelled by the weight of the bottles laced in the bottle-holdingockets, 6. Eac wheel is composed of the ubs, 4, webs, 36, and spokes, 5,supporting the disks, 17. The bottle-holding ockets, (i, are riveted tothe outer sides 0 the disks, 17, and are hollow, truncated cones, havingtheir bases next the wheel and their axes perpen- -dicular to the planeof the disk, 17. By reason of their shape, the bottles-placed thereinare at all times held in an upwardly inclined position, so that not onlyis the liquid enabled to reach all parts of the interior and exteriorsurfaces of the bottles, but they also emerge from the liquid, as thewheels revolve, on the side of tank, 1, nearest the brushes, 3]partially filled with the liquid. This liquid so retained in each bottleis thus immediately available for the scrubbing proces's, during whichsuch of the liquid as may escape from the bottles falls into theextension, 8, and runs thence back into the washing-tank, 1. It isobvious that the quantity 0f liquid extracted from the tank, 1, by eachbottle, as

above described, would soon materially reduce/the supply in the tank andrender it necessary to requently replenish the same, were it not savedin some such manner as above described.

It is, of course, possible that the brushing or scrubbing of the bottlesmight be automatically erformed, but I prefer that this operation shou dhave the constant attention of the operator, for the-following reasonz'After the milk is. used. from an ordinary milk-bottle, the latter isoften allowedto indefinite remain for an eriod exposed ,tdtheatmosphere, the result 'eingthatfthe'residue of the contentsiof 'thebottle becomes caked thereon to. i a greater or less degree, accordingto the *length of such period. Hence, when the bot- 5 tie is scrubbed,more or less time and efiort is m necessary toproperly clean it. It is,therefore, evident that the judgment of the oper-.

ator must be depended on to properly cleanse each bottle, and that the oeration could not be economically and suita interposed at this point.

' innerend, with a cushioning disk, 7 (Fig; 8)

Each of the pockets, 6, is provided, at its preferablyof wood, whichserves to deaden the impact of the bottle when placed'in the ocket andthus prevent the cracking or Ereakingof the glass, or other brittlematerial of which the bottleis'made. 18, in the sides of the pocket,permit'the escape ofliquid from the interior ofthe pocket as itemergesabove the surface. The combine'd area of the perforations, 18, in eachpocket exceeds that of the mouth 7 thereof; ence, the liquid runs offmore rapidly at the rear of the pocket than at its front. Theescapingliquld, therefore, holds the bottle in the pocket instead ofcarrying it out. The

tank, 1, is extended on-one side by the shallow, widened basin, 8, intowhich, as heretoforestated, the li ui'd drains from the bottles duringthe scrub ing process. will be seen that the position of the extensionor basin, 8, affords the operators at the brushes ample room for theremoval of the bottles {from the conveyer wheels, 3,. as they come tothe surface of the liquid, and greatly facilitates their transfer from"the wheels to the scrubbing brushes, 31;. The drip-pan, 9, together withthe'basin, 8, serves to return any of the liquid draining from the.bottles, durmg their progressfrom the scrubbing to the sprayingmechanism, to tank 1.

Mounted over the'central portion of the l basin, 8, is the brush-frame,40, in which the the spraying-stand, 19)

brdshes, 31, arejournaled on a common spindle, 41 operated by a pulley,33. These brushes may be used by two operators, one on eaclf side of thebasin, 8, at which point it will be seen that either can readily removethe bottles .from the wheels, scrub them on the brushes, 31 and depositthem in the drain-stand, 11', adjacent to the brushes. Two of thesedrain-stands are shown in Fig. 1-one at the above mentioned 'point, forreceiving the scrubbed bottles, and one upon position, the drain-standrests upon the slides, 10, which serve, as guides therefor as it ispushed around in either direction to the 1y per' formed by an automaticscrubbing device,

The ports,

In the receiving spraying-stand. .As shown, the sprayingq pans are eachprovided with twenty four water is arT itted under pressure point. Thespraying-pan 19 is provided with shoulders734, which serve to hold thedrain-stand in the roper position; so that the mouths of the ottles inthe stand will exactly coincide with the orifices, 13 and 20.

The tank, 15, is mounted directly above the spraying-pan, 19, andcommunicates, ports,28, with the various spraying-heads, 14, by whichthe water is distributed over each. inverted bottle, runs down theoutside of the same and finally-flows. into the tank, 16. The heads, 14,number of perforations arran ed in annular grooves on the under side oft e heads, from which the wfiteris showeredover the exterior surface ofeaclf bottle. The tank, 16,

by the aving eig tcentralol'ifices, 20-,'in

water-through the'connection, 21 to which from a res:

er'voir (not shown) located at any convenient 58o i are provided with aI also receives the drainage from the interior of the bottles. The pump,ply from the tank, 16, and dlschargesinto the tank, 15, by means of theconnecting pipes, 27. This pump is of any suitable I type andmay beoperated in any convenient manner. An overflow, 32, maintains the propermaximum level in the tank, 16.

One of the supports, 29 for the sprayer end 10 of the machine carriesthe ratchet, 30, for the treadle, 24, by ated throughthe s stem oflevers shown.

It willbe seen from this description that the waterused in rinsing theinterior of the bottles on' the sprayer-stand, 19, is subsequentlyspread over the outside of the botwhichthe valve, 22, is oper-.

25 draws its suptles. While it would, of course, be possible to.-usefresh water in both operations, the economy involved in this re-use ofthe. water would be found a valuable feature in many instances.Furthermore, it will be seenthat the water is constantly changed,*although much less is used by my improved method than would be the casewithother methods.

'In the operation of my improved bottlewashing machine, the tank, 1,having been filled with the desired washing compound, the bottles to bewashed are placed in the pockets at the outer end of the wheels, 3.

-Two operators may work at this point, one

at each wheel, if desired. As soon as a few of the bottles have beeninserted in the pockets, their weight causes the wheel to 'rotate untilthey are carried to'the lower part of the tank.- 'As more pockets areinserted into the following pockets, the wheel will be still furtherrotated until the first bottles come to the surface on the posite end ofthe tank, namely, that next t e brushes, 3 1. During their slow progressthrough the tank, the bottles have been free to partiallyge'yolve in thepockets, as actuated by gravity and during this journey it will be'seenthat each bottle is upwardly, inclined at all times.

,ventsthe ocketing ofa small portion of air This preat any..po1nt on;the interior surface of the bottles; and enables the. liquid to reachall points of the exterior and interior thereof. Furthermore, ,owing tothe position in which the are held by the "conical shape of the poo ets,the bottles emerge on the side of the.

tank nearest the brushes partially filled with the liquid from the tank.At this point they are withdrawn from the pockets by. the operators, andheld, one by one, u on the-brushes,

' which at that time are revo ving with some degree of rapidity. Thebottles are then placed, neck downward, in the drain-stand,

" .11, and when the latter is filled, it is pushed aroundupon theslides, -10, and shoved between the shoulders, 34, over the sprayingpan,19', and against the stop, 46, it beiiu then at the exact point wherethe mouths 0 the bottles coincide with the openingsand nozzles, 24 and13, in the sprayer-pipe, 12.

, It will be noted that an operator, standing at the oint where'thebottles are scrubbed upon t e brushes, 31, can, without changing hisposition, remove the bottles from the wheel, 'scrubthem upon the brushnearest to him, and deposit them upon the sprayingstand. Also, 1f twooperators are employed at'the brushes, the'drain-stand maybesimultaneously filled and the spraying-stand alternately "used by each,much time being pump 25 forces-it through Ipipe 27, into the tank, 15.From "this tan over the exterior of the bottles by the heads,

14,to whichit is communicated by the ports,

28. The spraying or rinsing of the bottles. is. thus accomplished. Thewater from the ear terior of the bottles also drains into tank, .16,and. is thus repeatedly utilized. An abhor it i is showered sespse malrise of liquid in tank, 16, is prevented by overflow ipe, 32, which maybe of any desired heig t. This tank may be drained in a manner similarto that described in connectionwith tank 1, viz:,bylifting pipe 32 outof its socket at the bottom'of the tank. After the spraying rocess isfinished, the drainstand and bott es are transferred to any suitablepoint, for drying or sterilizing.

' It-is ap arent from the foregoing that the complete immersion of thebottles, and the access of the li uid in the tank 1 to the entireinterior am exterior surface of each bottle, together with the retentionof a considerable portion of the liquid in each, as' it emerges, isaccomplished through the instru mentality of the conical pockets;and itis further evident that in order to full meet the end in view, it isnecessary that t e bot' tles be loosely held in t ese conical pockets. Aholder of this nature enables the bottle to be easily inserted andwithdrawn, thus economizing the time of the operators and facilitatingtheir work, and also automat'cally retains the bottle during its entiretri through the liquid. The simplicityof construction of these pockets;the ease with which they can be attached to, the wheels, and the economin the use of the liquid emplo ed in the soa 'ing and scrubbingprocesses, 0 the water used in .the spraying process, and of the timethe operators, constitute imand labor 0 portant features of myinvention. I In the actual practice of my invention, the

water may, if desired, be pumped directly" from the tank 16 to theheads, 14,'without the interposition of tank 15, and may thus bedischarged, under ressure, upon the 'outside of the bottles. T hedrain-stand may, of course, be constructed to hold any conven ientnumber of bottles, the groups of sprayer nozzles above and below therack being ar ranged accordingly.

Frornfthe foregoin description it will be readily seen that it is highlyadvantageous to operate the spraying jets vertically, as shown,

for the reason that no difficulty is thereby encountered in. readilycollecting the water f alling from the bottles; the space occupied bythe apparatus is comparatively small; the spattering of the water overthe o erators or surrounding ob'ects is avoided, an the maximum rinsinge ect of the water on the insideand outside of the bottles is secured.The undesirable and wasteful features mentioned would be inherent in anysystem of horizontal'sp'raying that might be devised.

As the'reservoir, 15, is air-tight, the up or part thereof becomes acompression-cham er when the pump, 25, is operated, the capacity of thepump being greater than that of the combined area of the orts, 28'. Theresult is that the water is disciiarged from the heads, 14, with aconsiderable degree of force.

It is obvious that numerous modifications of my invention will readilysuggest themselves to one skilled in the art, and I therefore do notconfine my invention to the specific constructions herein shown anddescribed.

Having thus described my invention, 1

claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. In abottle-washing machine, a tank, a wheel mounted for rotation therein, aplurality of bottleockets provided upon the side of said wheel eachconsisting of a hollow, truncated cone, the axis of which is normal tothe plane of the wheel and suitable perfo-' rations provided in saidpockets, to cause a backward flow of the fluid therein, substantially asand for the urpose s ecified.

2. In a bottle-was ing mac ine, a soakingtank, in combination withaconveyer-wheel having a horizontal axis and di pinginto said tank, and alurality of cone-1i e bottle-holders having their axes per endicular tothe side of said wheel, and provi ed with openings in their small endsto. receive bottles, substan-.

tially as described.

3. In a bottle washing machine, a disk-like rotary member, incombination with a hollow,

truncated cone-shaped pocket projecting from the side of said member,said pocket having an o ening at its small end to receive abottle, andprovided with a perforated but otherwise closed base, substantially asdescribed.

4. In a bottle washing machine, a bottleholder, shaped as a truncated,hollow cone, closed at its large end and 0 en at' its small end, toreceive the base of a ottle, the large end of said pocket containingperforations and having a cushion, and a ocket carrier low, truncatedcone having a base'flange secured to the side of said wheel and carr inga bottle entirely upon one side of the whee ,substantially as described.

7. In a bottle washing and soaking machine, a tank, in combination witha con- Keyer wheel mounted therein, cone-like bottle ders mounted withtheir axes substantially perpendicular to the face of said wheel andbeing so constructed that a bottle placed therein will remain at anangle to the horizontal at all positions of the conveyer wheel, and saidholders having drain holes at their inner or large ends, substantial] asdescribed.

In testimony whereof, have hereunto set my hand this 29th day ofJanuary, A. D. 1904-, at Chicago, Illinois, in the presence of twowitnesses.

JOHN R. AMACKER.

Witnesses O. G. HAWLEY, WM. H. CLARKE.

